Press Conference - Rockhampton, QLD
23 March 2022
MICHELLE LANDRY MP, FEDERAL MEMBER FOR CAPRICORNIA: Well, it is absolutely wonderful for you to be at the Rockhampton Showgrounds today with the Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister, and we're here today to make an announcement about Beef 24. $6 million towards running, running the show. I had the Prime Minister and Barnaby up here last year and they just absolutely loved it. I think I had to drag them both out of here. They just had so much fun, just with the international exhibitions that we have here with the cattle, with the amazing food and the chefs. And this just showcases the whole of Rockhampton, the whole of our region. And I think the whole of Australia. Last year, we saw over 116,000 people walk through the gates, and that was a record. And that is absolutely fantastic thing. We had COVID and we didn't have any international people here, and they still broke records. So congratulations to the board. They did an amazing job. And also to add to that, I had the pleasure last Friday to be down in, down the Sunshine Coast for the Australian Tourism Awards and Beef Australia won gold down there also, as well as the Empire Hotel. So I think it's amazing what we can do here in central Queensland. We really punch above our weight, so this is a fantastic way to showcase the beef in Australia. We're all looking forward to Beef 24 and it's a pleasure to have the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister in town.
PRIME MINISTER: Thanks a lot, Michelle. It's great to be here with you, Michelle. Great to be here with Barnaby, to Bryce and your whole team. It's great to be here with you as well. I'm really pleased to be backing in this important announcement today. $6 million for Beef 24. And if it's half as good as Beef 21, it is just going to be an absolutely, absolutely tremendous event and congratulation on taking you out of the Australian Tourism Award. But can I commend you, Michelle? Because you know you are such a determined advocate for the community here in Rockhampton. You get this and you have been consistent in raising these issues, so we go into next week's budget. Our investment in Beef 24 is, of course, about supporting what is just an amazing event here in central Queensland. Tourists, visitors come from all over the place and it is quite something to behold. Last time I was standing right here pretty much with Bryce and others, this entire showground was just brimming. And you know what, I really loved about it, apart from the massive economic benefits that come for Rockhampton. More importantly than that though, Beef 24 will once again showcase the world class beef producers of Australia. And just how important our primary producing industry is to our country, economically. A strong economy means a stronger future. And that means doing the things that we do well and doing them even better and doing them well into the future. This is an industry that is inextricably linked to Australia's economic future, and that means that Central Queensland has a bright future when we continue to back in our livestock industry and particularly our beef producers, which is on showcase.
The other thing I love about Beef, what was before we called Beef Week and Beef 24, is it brings the whole sector together to learn from each other and to see the advances in technology in particular. I was really impressed at Beef Week 21, of the most growing area of the event was the technology section, and that's where you've got bankers and financiers with technologists and with farmers and producers all sharing the best new technology which can actually take our agricultural sector, our livestock industry, into the next tier of competitiveness and making sure that we are the best in the world. So, you know, Beef 24 is a fantastic event, and if you haven't been to it, then make plans to be here wherever you are in Australia. But even more significantly, it's a great time to come and celebrate what our beef producers do for our country. Without them, you can't pay the bills. Australia can't pay the bills and that's what our beef producers do. And that's why the Liberals and Nationals stand so firmly in behind our livestock industry and our primary producers because they're the ones who help us pay for the pension, pay for the National Disability Insurance, pay for our Defence Forces, and I'll pass you over to the Deputy Prime Minister. Barnaby.
THE HON. BARNABY JOYCE MP, DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER AND MINISTER FOR INFRASTRUCTURE, TRANSPORT AND REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT: Well, OK, Michelle, congratulations once again. Michelle has come through with the goods for Rockhampton Beef Week isn’t it important [inaudible because as the Prime Minister clearly stated, your standard of living is reflecting what goes on a boat so that you can wear the shirts that you wear that come from overseas. The phones in your pocket that come from overseas, the television you watch that comes from overseas and somebody somewhere must be putting something on a boat. Cattle producers [inaudible], Victoria got the Dairy Week a great show. Casino, we've got another Beef Week. Great show and my acknowledgement and my concerns go out to the people of the Northern Rivers all the time, especially in the late of most recent circumstances. But for your nation, Beef Week is an incredible thing to go to. You don't have to be a cattle producer. You turn up, you have a look around, but you get a pride out of your nation because we're one of the best in the job at doing this. And this is probably the epicentre of the, it's the biggest beef producing area in Australia. And this is jobs out there, out there, in the abattoirs there. They're, there are thousands of jobs that are part of the, of the beef industry. And it's not just in the boning room, it's in computer programming. It's in, it's in biotechnology, it's in genetics. People at the University of Central Queensland University, University New England getting better genetics so that we can do a better job so that we can be the best at our game, in the globe, in the globe so that we can become as strong as possible, as quickly as possible and everybody's going to do their part. And Beef Week is another fundamental part of that, fundamentally part of the Coalition plan to make sure our nation is as strong as possible as quickly as possible, so if you can get a fellow from the Shire to come up to Beef Week and enjoy it and enjoy it, then, you know, learn more about your country. Come to Central Queensland. Understand the beef industry. Have some fun. Buy yourself a hat. And congratulations, Michelle.
PRIME MINISTER: Bryce, do you want to say something, great to have you here.
MR BRYCE CAMM, CHAIRMAN OF BEEF AUSTRALIA: Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. It is. It is so good to have both the Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister of our nation here in our beef capital. Beef Australia 2021 was a record breaking event, as Michelle said over 116,000 people through the gates. A record. $100 million impact economically for our nation, and as we celebrated last week, you know, a gold tourism award to boot, but particularly to the Federal Government and the announcement of $6 million of commitment to Beef 24 to plan for our next event speaks to the strength and commitment to this event. The Prime Minister, when you first took office, you went and saw the people in our industry that had struggled from the floods. And it's important when you have a leadership team that backs in industry both in bad times, but most importantly, in good times and a commitment of $6 million speaks to the strength that is existing currently in the Australian beef industry. And I thank you and your government for this tremendous support. To Michelle Landry, we call her our local hero here in Rockhampton, she fights so hard for this city and for the entire region of Capricornia. Thank you for your ongoing support of Beef Australia and our entire team. It's now some 774 days away, till will open the gates not just to a record breaking crowd again, but particularly to our international visitors that we will be so keen to welcome back to Central Queensland. Welcome back to the beef industry. And to celebrate a great Australian product, a great Australian way of life. We welcome you all in 24 in the first week of May. And again, thank you for the Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister for their support.
PRIME MINISTER: Well, thank you. Before I take some questions, I just want to say that on the way here we learnt of the news that Ash Barty would be retiring from tennis, and I just was able to leave a message for Ash just before we got out of the car and to her an Garry, I want to wish them all the very best for their future. But I particularly want to say thank you to you Ash for inspiring a generation of young people and particularly a generation of young indigenous people in this country. You are all class. Your commitment to excellence in your chosen field in tennis, and you are a great cricketer, you are a great tennis player. I'm sure, anything you turn your hand to, you are going to be a great success and I have no doubt that will be the case as you go forward with the next, the next chapters in your life. But I do want to say thank you to Ash for inspiring a country, inspiring a nation at a time when this country really needed a good shot in the arm and none of us will forget, of course, her triumphant win in Wimbledon and none of us will ever forget that incredible comeback down there at the Australian Open this year, which once again showed everybody what you can do when you really apply yourself to it. So thank you Ash on behalf of the very grateful nation.
JOURNALIST: With this announcement, the federal opposition also pledged $6 million back in January. Why has this announcement taken so long?
PRIME MINISTER: Because the Budget is next week, and we're making our announcements in relation to the Budget and it's something we've always supported and we've been passionate supporters of Beef Week, as Bryce will tell you. I mean, we've we've been the ones who have been their partners and stayed with them all the way through, and we were looking forward to making that announcement in relation to the Budget. This isn't a promise. This is in the books.
JOURNALIST: Anthony Albanese says he won't be called gutless by a politician that avoided meeting with flood victims on the streets of Lismore last week and instead careful, carefully media managed your trip. What do these personal attacks on each other achieve?
PRIME MINISTER: What I simply would say in reply to the leader of the Labor Party is this. You can't have double standards, and he's very quick to apply standards to other, on the others on these issues. But if you seek to be the Prime Minister, you can't apply one standard to someone else and not the same, be yourself. And in refusing to deal with what the allegations are by the Labor Party themselves, the Liberal Party, I've made no against allegations on these matters. These are things that the Labor Party themselves have. And so why he is continuing to dismiss these very serious allegations around bullying and the culture of the party he leads, then they're questions he has to answer.
In relation to the Northern Rivers. I completely reject that. When I went to the Northern Rivers indeed, as the Deputy Prime Minister did, and so many of my Ministers. I wasn't going there to put cameras in people's faces. I went and met with people on their dairy farms and their businesses in their homes and walked through the ruins of their homes and the cleaning out of their homes. And I listened carefully, and as they poured their heart out to me, I was listening. I don't need a camera pointing at me to talk to people. And for those who want to engage in political protest, well they can. But I'm going to spend my time with those who were cleaning up their homes, dealing with the tragedies that they were facing, walking through the businesses that had been completely destroyed and with $1.7 billion being invested by my Government in the rebuilding of the floods in New South Wales and up here in Queensland, over half a billion dollars, we've already committed in what's being done to support the flood victims in South East Queensland. We're getting on with it. Anthony Albanese needs to deal with these very serious allegations. You can't run away from them. He needs to face up to them and deal with it because if he can't deal with the bullies in your own party, then how on earth is he going to stand up for Australia in against those who would seek to bully Australia in our own region?
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, $10 million has been appointed for a business case for the Inland Rail Gladstone to Toowoomba connection, has anything being done on that so far because people are wanting the Federal Government to get on with it?
PRIME MINISTER: Yeah, well, I'll ask Barnaby, may want to speak to this because you will find no more passionate advocate. He is the founder, sponsor, chief champion of Inland Rail. Barnaby.
THE HON. BARNABY JOYCE MP, DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER AND MINISTER FOR INFRASTRUCTURE, TRANSPORT AND REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT: Well, thank you very much, Prime Minister. And yes, the 1,716 kilometres, which is the inland rail, which we are building between Melbourne through to Brisbane, which right now as we speak, they are working on, it is our vision and it is my vision, it is the vision of this Government to continue on to Gladstone. And yes, the business case is coming forward, but we are so very confident that this is going to be successful. Absolutely, and our intention 100 per percent is is to build this. Why? Because it makes central Queensland even stronger. There's a clear statement that connects Gladstone to Melbourne, Newcastle to Brisbane, Brisbane to Melbourne and to all those towns in between. So that we get an increase in growth in regional areas that we've never seen before. Into Parkes, into Narrabri, into Goondiwindi, into Toowoomba, into Gladstone, into Gladstone. Remember, remember this. The Coalition, the Liberals and the Nationals and Nationals and the Liberals put the money on the table to build the inland rail. Others talked about it. Others dreamt about it. Others now try to claim it. But we're the ones that built it. We are the doers. So we say to the people of Gladstone, we are so proud of your industrial city. It is one of the gems of industry in our nation, and the vision of the Coalition of the Nationals and the Liberals is to make that city even bigger, even better, to make sure we stand behind the products that we load. We believe in the people who export the products to give us security, to give us, well, that pays for your social security, that pays for your education, pays for your schools, pays for your child care. We believe in these people and therefore we are driving this railway line through to Gladstone.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, just a question about the Budget. Will there be a cut to the fuel excise in next week's budget? And what other measures can we expect to address the rising cost of living?
PRIME MINISTER: It's less than a week to go now until the Budget, and what we have been doing as a Government is seriously addressing in the measures that will be outlined in the Budget, the impacts on cost of living that are being felt, particularly because of the rise in fuel prices. And we all know that that has been caused by the terrible events with the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, and we've taken a very strong stand when it comes to supporting the people of Ukraine. On the weekend, I announced further support that involved taking coal from Australia, some 70,000 tonnes of it to ensure we could keep fuelling their resistance, there supporting power for some a million homes in Ukraine. Increased military assistance, increased humanitarian support. What does that mean here in Australia? It means that there's a shock to the world's energy prices and we're seeing that in fuel, in petrol. And it just doesn't hit the family budget. It works its way through the whole economy.
And so what the Treasurer and I do, together with the Deputy Prime Minister and others is we've been carefully pulling together a package that we know can address the rising cost of living, but do so responsibly and in a balanced way, just like we did when we put JobKeeper in place that saved 700,000 jobs, just like we did when we did the cash flow boost, which kept businesses in business. And it means they're in business now, and as the recovery kicks in, those businesses are there to take advantage of the opportunities and which ensured that when we came through the pandemic that our economy has come through stronger than all the advanced G7 economies in the world, Australian, in Australia, we just didn't save 40,000 lives. We just didn't achieve one of the highest vaccination rates in the world. We did this while protecting and strengthening our economy through the pandemic. And so on the other side of the pandemic, we got more people employed. The unemployment rate is lower and we can face the future with great confidence, but you can't take that for granted. And next week in the Budget, what you'll be seeing is a well reasoned, responsible package of measures to address the challenges that Australians are facing right now and to secure their opportunities in the future.
And another important part of that is I'm standing here in central Queensland with the Deputy Prime Minister, and Michelle Landry, is that regions are such a massive part of our economic plan. I understand and the Liberal Party and the Nationals understand that Australia is more than our eight capital cities. The Labor Party can barely see out of the inner suburbs of cities, let alone out of the capital cities themselves into the regions of Australia and the regions of Australia have great wealth. And so whether it's supporting the beef industry here or whether it's supporting the agricultural industry where the Deputy Prime Minister and I were this morning up in Townsville with the Hells Gates Dam, $5.4 billion of catalytic transformational investment, which is going to spur the growth of that region and have a wealth effect not just across North Queensland, but across central Queensland and across the whole country. They're the investments that make the difference. That's how you achieve a strong economy and that's how you have a stronger future. Thanks very much, everyone.
